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An artistic impression of the recently discovered extinct monk seal species Credit: Jaime Bran. Copyrigh: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa.
The discovery, published today on Proceedings of the Royal Society B, fundamentally changes scientists’ understanding of how seal species around the world have evolved.
It came after researchers examined seven preserved fossil specimens, including a complete skull, found by local fossil hunters on the beaches of South Taranaki in New Zealand between 2009 and 2016.
The new species is named Eomonachus belegaerensis, (meaning “Belegaer’s Dawn Monk Seal”) from the Belegaer Sea, located west of Middle-earth in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
About 2.5 meters long and weighing around 200-250 kg, Eomonachus belegaerensis lived in the waters around New Zealand about 3 million years ago.
It was previously thought that all true seals came from the North Atlantic, with some later crossing the equator to live as far south as Antarctica.
Eomonaco now shows that many ancient seals, including the ancestors of today’s Antarctic monks, elephants, and seals, actually evolved in the Southern Hemisphere.
Monash paleontologist James Rule, Ph.D. candidate at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, led the research as part of a trans-Tasman collaboration involving Monash University and Museums Victoria in Australia, and the Te Papa and Canterbury Museum in Australia. New Zeland. The study was supervised and co-authored by Dr. Justin Adams (Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute), Dr. Erich Fitzgerald (Museums Victoria) and Associate Professor Alistair Evans (School of Biological Sciences).
Pieces of the fossil specimens discovered include a complete skull. Credit: Monash University
“This new extinct monk seal species is the first of its kind from the Southern Hemisphere. Its discovery really transforms the evolution of seals,” Rule said.
“Until now, we thought that all true seals came from the Northern Hemisphere and then crossed the equator only once or twice during their entire evolutionary history. Instead, many of them seem to have evolved in the South Pacific and then crossed the equator. equator up to eight times. “
Te Papa Museum of New Zealand marine mammal curator and study collaborator Dr. Felix Marx said the discovery was a triumph for citizen science.
“This new species was discovered thanks to several exceptionally well-preserved fossils, all found by members of the public.”
Monash University paleontologist James Rule inspects the fossil skull of the newly identified monk seal species. Credit: no credit required
Dr. Marx is confident about the future discoveries of new species in New Zealand’s ancient past.
“New Zealand is incredibly rich in fossils and we have barely scratched the surface so far. Who knows what else is out there?” Dr. Marx said.
The fossils just described reveal an ancient origin for New Zealand penguins
The first monk seal in the southern hemisphere rewrites the evolutionary history of real seals, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2020). rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or… .1098 / rspb.2020.2318
Provided by Monash University
Quote: New Fossil Seal Species Rewrites History (2020, Nov 10) Recovered Nov 10, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-11-fossil-species-rewrites-history.html
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